To the Governor: West Virginia Senate Passes Bill to End State-Run Obamacare Exchange

To the Governor: West Virginia Senate Passes Bill to End State-Run Obamacare Exchange

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (April 6, 2017) – Yesterday, the West Virginia Senate unanimously passed a bill to shut down the state-run Obamacare health insurance exchange. If signed by Gov. Jim Justice, the legislation would take an important first step toward withdrawing the state from implementing the national healthcare program.

Rep. Joe Ellington (R-Princeton) sponsored House Bill 2119 (HB2119), The legislation would simply repeal provisions in West Virginia law establishing a health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. That would leave the federal government to administer the insurance exchange on its own.

Obamacare is predicated on state cooperation. By ending state actions that support the ACA or any future federal healthcare plan, and refusing to enforce any of their mandates, a state can make it nearly impossible to run national healthcare its borders. The federal government never intended to run the healthcare system alone, and ultimately, it can’t do it without state help. We’ve already seen the difficulties created for the Affordable Care Act by the number of states that simply refused to set up exchanges for the federal government.

Refusing to expand Medicaid or to set up an exchange are two essential steps states should take to facilitate an end to Obamacare or its so-called replacement. HF10 takes the very first step. That would set the stage for further action. Judge Andrew Napolitano noted that if a number of states were to refuse to participate with the ACA in a wholesale fashion, that multi-state action would “gut Obamacare.”

Napolitano said that if enough states follow suit, “it will gut ObamaCare because the federal government does not have the resources or the wherewithal […] to go into each of the individual states.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Gov. Justice will have five days from the date of transmittal to sign or veto HB2199. If you live in West Virginia, you should call the governor’s office and ask him to sign the legislation. You can find contact information HERE.